Bernardo de Galvez

Bernardo de Galvez y Madrid, Count de Galvez (23 July 1746-30 November 1786) was the Viceroy of New Spain from 1785 to 1786 who was a general of Spain during the American Revolutionary War. He was the commander of the army that captured Pensacola from the British in 1781.

Biography
Bernardo de Galvez was born in the Kingdom of Granada in 1746 to an Andalusian family. In 1762, at the age of 16, he participated in the Spanish invasion of Portugal during the Seven Years' War and made the rank of Lieutenant. That year, he was dispatched to New Spain and received many wounds fighting the Apache. In 1770 he became the commander of Spanish forces in Sonora.

In 1775, Galvez participated in the expedition to Algiers, capturing the fortress that guarded the city after being wounded. Two years later, Galvez became the Governor of Louisiana, taking advantage of his fluency in French that he achieved while in Pau in 1772. He stopped British smuggling, promoted trade with France, and gave arms to Native Americans to recruit them as soldiers.

In 1779, when Spain entered the American Revolutionary War on the side of the United States against Great Britain, Galvez launched an invasion of British Louisiana. In 1779 he captured Baton Rouge and a year later captured Fort Charlotte in Mobile. In 1781, he liberated West Florida from Great Britain by taking the fort of Pensacola.

After the war, he was made a Field Marshal, Governor of Louisiana and Florida, and the town of Galveston in Texas was named after him. He became Governor of New Spain from 1785 until 1786, when he fell ill. He died in Mexico City, poisoned by his enemies with the approval of the court.